Cellulosic product



Dec. 8, 1964 Filed Feb. 8, 1960 H. N- NELSON CELLULOSIC PRODUCT 5Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 8, 1964 H. N. NELSON 3,160,337

CELLULOSIC PRODUCT Filed Feb. 8, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1/1 F f M \I/Dec. 8, 1964 Filed Feb. 8, 1960 H. N NELSON CELLULOSIC PRODUCT I MHIIHIIHWI III'HII A 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,168,337(ZELLULQEEE PRUDUCT Howard N. Nelson, Neenah, Wis, assignor to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis, a corporation of Delaware v Filed Feb.8, 1960, Ser. No. 7,167 1 illaim. (Ci. 225-32) This invention relates totissue dispensing cartons and in particular to an improved opening forthe individual dispensing of inter-folded tissues.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved opening inthe top panel of a tissue carton, the location, configuration anddimensions of which are related to the carton dimensions and to thedimensions of inter-folded tissues contained therein in a manner toinsure uniform dispensing of all of the canton contained tissues.

Another object is to provide, in a carton for interfolded and lightlyinter-bonded tissues, an improved dispensing opening marginally of thetop panel of the carton so dimensioned and of such configuration as toinsure optimum sequential feeding of inter-bonded tissues immediatelytrailing those severed as dispensed, regardless of the number of tissuesremaining in the carton.

A further object is to provide an improved carton dispensing opening forthe individual dispensing of partially severed but lightly inter-bondedand inter-folded facial tissues, the location, configuration anddimensions of which insure optimum individual dispensing of all the comeapparent to persons skilled in the art upon examination of the drawingsand description, the scope of the invention being defined in theappended claim.

In the drawings, in which like parts are defined by the same referencenumeral,

FIGURE 1 shows in perspective a tissue carton incorporating theinventive concept with a portionof the front panel broken away andshowing tissues as positioned by previous tissue "extraction and readyfor subsequent dispensing,

FIGURE 2 shows in "plan view the top panel 'of the carton of FIGURE 1with a perforation defined panel which upon removal provides adispensing opening incorporating the invention,

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1 andillustrating leading and trailing tissues as positioned by a previousdispensing operation,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 illustrating the next tissuedispensing operation with the tissue train drawn from the opposite sideof the carton, and

FIGURE 5 is similar "to FIGURE 3 illustrating tissue dispensing from thecarton with only a few tiss'uesremaining to 'be dispensed.

The provision of a suitable dispensing opening for a carton containinginter-folded and lightly inter-bonded facial tissues (of the typepopularized over many years past by Kimberly-Clark Corporation and soldunder the trademark Kleenex) may appear to the casual observer toinvolve nothing beyond design choice. However, the involved factors arequite complex, and over many years past a very substantial amount ofresearch and experimental effort has been directed to the solution ofthe problems involved. Many different types of dispenser openings havebeen designed and tested, and those in current use, which vary widely inconfiguration, size, and location, are familiar to users of facialtissues.

Many openings directed to a solution of the complex dispensing problemsabove mentioned are found in the 3,160,337 Patented Dec. 8, 1964patented art, and some of those patents have expired. The followingfactors govern the operational characteristics of carton openings forinter-folded tissues connected by interrupted transverse severance linesto provide easily torn inter-bonds. An opening, to be effective, must becapable of satisfactory operation, not only during initial dispensingwith the carton substantially filled with interfolded tissues, but forthe entire period of use during which the enclosed stack of inter-foldedtissues gradually diminishes, and especially when only a few tissuesremain at the bottom of the canton. While dispensing containers of metalor other materials which enclose the carton are available, it is themore common practice for a user to dispense tissues directly from thepaperboard carton in which they are sold and which is normally placed ona table or similar supporting surface. There exists a varying relationduring use between the Weight of the carton and the weight of the stackof inter-folded tissues therein. A satisfactory dispenser opening mustinsure substantially uniform dispensing during first use when the tissueweight exceeds the weight of the carton and, during final use when theweight of the carton is substantially greater than the tissues containedtherein.

The bond strength of inter-folded tissues is carefully controlled by themanufacturer, and satisfactory dispensing is obtained only whensuflicient retractive forces are introduced at the opening to insureoptimum withdrawal of trailing tissues and ultimate severance of thebonds between successive panels formed by spaced transverse interruptedlines of perforation which divide the sheets into individual panels. Thedispensing opening must be of a s ze and configuration to imposesufiicient frictional resistance on trailing sheets to insure cleansheet severance at "the proper time during a dispensing operation.

As taught by expired Gresenz Patent 1,935,905 a dis-' ing a center slotopening short of the carton side Wall to provide a degree offriction-imparting constriction of the dispensed sheets adjacent onemargin thereof. That concept gradually evolved into the common practiceof terminating both ends of dispensing openings short of the cartonmargins. Most, if not all of-the currently employed openings are of aconfiguration allowing some marginal constrictiono'f dispensed sheets.While the center opening of Gresenz Patent 1,935,905 has proved quitesatisfactory for use with rather shallow cartons, such as those "used topackage 200 inter-folded tissue sheets, such openings fail to functionsatisfactorily when used on "deeper cartons such as those used topackage 400 sheets of inter-folded tissues. When more than half of thetissues are dispensed from the deeper cartons there exists a strongtendency for trailing tissues, which rise first from one side "of thestack and then from the opposite side and upwardly through the opening,'to fall back by their own weight into the carton. Suchobjectionablefall-back presents major problems'in the design ofdispensing openings for 'all but the shallow type cartons. Certaininherent characteristics of centrally disposed slot type openings arenot objectionable in shallow cartons but become objectionable as thecarton depth increases.

Certain advantages are gained by positioning an elongate dispensingopening laterally of the carton top wall and adjacent a side wallthereof instead of in the central portion of the top wall. Some of thoseadvantages are broadly taughtby expired Gresenz Patent 2,118,380, bothof said patents being assigned to a corporation which was then owned byand is now merged with applicants assignee.

Applicants invention incorporates the known concept of transverselyrestricting the tissue sheets as dispensed ea or plus the concept ofdispensing them from a laterally positioned opening. However, theimproved opening herein taught goes far beyond the Gresenz teachingseffectively to eliminate certain inherent disadvantages of the openingof Patent 2,118,380 which, from a practical standpoint, was discontinuedafter substantial production and sale by applicants assignee.

Gresenz Patent 2,118,380 discloses an elongate opening positionedlaterally of and extending along a very substantial portion of thecarton length, and including a substantial portion extending downwardlyof the carton side wall to facilitate manual withdrawal of a pluralityof tissues in stacked form. As stated at the bottom of column 1, page 1of that patent, the optimum dimension of the innermost linear portion ofthe top wall opening is 4%" for a carton of length. In addition thereto,the top opening is gradually tapered by lines of perforation toward eachend of the carton to join slits 11 which curve laterally to the topmargin of the side wall to define wedge-like notches at each end of theopening. The notches formed by lines of perforation 10 and slits 11determine the total length of the dispensing slot, and while the exactoverall length is not given, the total length of the opening is 6% for a10" total box length, that dimension being taken from a productioncarton from which the draftsman prepared the Gresenz patent drawings.Dimensions evident from the patent drawings, and particularly from FIG.2, support such a dimension with relation to the overall slot length ascompared to the carton length. Thus the dispensing opening of Gresenzpatent 2,118,380 extends, from end to end, over 67.5% of the totalcarton length.

While that opening is of an optimum width (not substantially greaterthan one-quarter of the carton width),

it has been found that dispensing from all tissue stack levels issubstantially improved when the opening is substantially shortened inrespect to the patent teaching to provide what has been found to be anoptimum ratio between length and width for such a laterally disposeddispensing slot. There was also some tendency for the slotlike ends ofthe Gresenz opening to prevent proper dispensing when tissues werepulled out from a position toward the ends of the carton, since trailingtissues were often wedged therein during such extraction. Since theopening extends substantially down into the side wall of the carton aswell as along a lateral portion of the top Wall, resulting weakening ofthe carton sometimes caused partial destruction thereof during use,especially since paperboard of the type used has been substantiallyreduced in thickness and weight since the issuance of Patent 2,118,380in 1938, due to the highly competitive nature of facial tissues.

As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, a carton 10, which may be of lightweight paperboard stock, is provided with a dispensing opening 12incorporating the concepts herein taught. Opening 12 is formed in aknown manner by perforating the top panel 14 in a manner to define thesize and shape of the ultimate opening. The perforation path includes alinear portion 16 in parallel spaced relation to a side of front wall 18and inwardly of the carton top wall 14 a distance of about one-quarterof the total top wall width. Each end of linear portion 16 leadssmoothly outwardly at 20 to the top edge of front wall 18 to join an,interconnecting line of perforation 22 extending along the top edge offront wall 18 to provide substantially semi-circular margins at each endof an elongate slot of uniform width.

The portion of top wall 14 thus outlined to provide the opening issecurely maintained in place to protect the contents until ready foruse, but is readily torn from carton 10 to expose the contents ofinter-folded and stacked tissues housed therein. It is common practiceto employ a carton which is somewhat deeper than the enclosed tissuestack to allow for expansion of the stack during storage and tofacilitate proper dispensing from d the carton which may be rendereddiificult if the tissue sheets therein are under compression.

Opening 12 is substantially shorter than the Gresenz opening, theoptimum length being not more and preferably slightly less than one-halfthe total length of carton 10, whereas the Gresenz opening extends over67.5 of the carton length.

Applicants shortened opening, coupled with the provision ofsubstantially semi-circular end margins in place of gradually taperingend portions terminating in slots as taught by the prior art results ingreatly improved dispensing. Known inter-folded tissues of the type tobe dispensed consist of a train comprising two continuous sheets witheach sheet divided into a sequence of rectangular panels by transverselines of interrupted perforation. One sheet leads the other by half apanel and the panels are center and end folded in a manner to positionfolds along the perforation lines of one sheet to be enclosed by acenter-fold panel of the other sheet. The perforations form relativelyweak inter-panel bonds there- .between which are easily broken duringthe dispensing tween the two sheets, proper feeding through a cartonopening must cause the trailing half of the leading sheet frictionallyto engage the leading half of the trailing sheet to be pulled upwardlyinto an exposed position before the bonds of the leading panel arebroken. Since the inter- -panel bonds are relatively weak, properdispensing is dependent upon the maintenance of sufiicient frictionalresistance during a dispensing operation, between the trailing half ofthe leading sheetand the leading half of the trailing sheet to isolatethe leading panel bonds from the dispensing force until the leadingpanel sheet proper- 1y positions the trailing panel sheet above theopening, at which position the inter-panel friction imposed byconstriction during passage of the two sheets through the openingdiminishes to the point that dispensing forces are imparted to the bondsof the leading panel to result in their rupture. The trailing panel hasthen assumed the position formerly assumed by the detached panel, andthe cycle is repeated. The upward feeding of the double sheet trainthrough a dispensing opening occurs sequentially,

first from one folded margin of the stack and then from the oppositefolded margin thereof. Regardless of which margin is involved, however,the trailing half of the forwardmost panel frictionally must engage theleading half of a trailing panel sufficiently to insure that thetrailing panel is brought about half way through the dispensing openingbefore rupture of the bonds of the leading panel to prevent fall-back ofthe trailing panel, and sometimes fall-back of both panels into thecarton.

A correlation exists between the optimum magnitude of retractive forcesimposed by the constrictive function of an opening, the strength of theinter-panel bonds, and size of the sheets to be dispensed. The presentopening has been especially designed for inter-folded tissues the panelsof which are connected by bonds requiring a severing force of about 67gms. for a sheet size requiring a paperboard carton 10" long and 4 /2wide. The teachings herein are equally applicable to inter-foldedtissues of varying size and bond strength by employment of properdimensional selection on a proportionate basis.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the general configuration assumed by a substantialstack of inter-folded tissues during dispensing thereof. The forwardpanel of the leading sheet is shown at 24, about one-half of the panelextending above the carton, and the forward margin of the trailing panelis shown at 26 extending slightly through opening 12, the double sheettissue train 28 having been fed through opening 12 from the right sideof the carton as viewed. Tissue train 28 will be next fed from the leftside of the carton. Upon completion of a subsequent dispensing operationthe tissue train assumes substantially the position shown in FIG. 4, andthe train is next dispensed from the right side of the carton, FIGUREillustrates dispensing from the left side of the carton when only a fewtissues remain therein.

As shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, a substantial throating of the tissuetrain occurs during its passage through the dispensing opening, and asbest shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the panel train is guided by semi-circularend portions 20 to assume a circular fold throughout substantialmarginal portions thereof.

Due to the manner in which the tissues are inter-folded to form thestack, trailing panels drawn through the opening sequentially appear onalternate sides of the leading panel. As shown in FIG. 1, the frontmargin 30 of a trailing panel is shown in contiguous engagement with theforward side of the leading panel as viewed. A subsequent dispensingoperation draws the next trailing panel through the opening along theback side of the leading panel as viewed. Regardless of which side ofthe leading j panel frictionally engages the trailing panel duringpassage through the opening, the semi-circular end margins thereofdirect both the leading and trailing panels into a C- shapedconfiguration, with substantial marginal portions of the panels thusbrought into substantial pressure engagement. An important feature ofthe invention resides in the fact that since the opening does not exceedonehalf the carton length the dispensed sheets are transverselyconstricted to about one-half their stacked width as they pass throughthe opening. This degree of transverse restriction, which isaccomplished ina smooth manner due especially to the semi-circular endmargins of the opening, imparts substantial frictional resistance to thecontiguous panel portions thereof to prevent premature breaking of thepanel bonds during dispensing as above described. Further, the endmargins of the opening are 6 of a configuration which permits properdispensing even when the outermost panel is pulled from a. sidedirection.

I claim: The combination with a tissue carton having top, bottom, sideand end walls and a stack of interfolded and lightly interbonded tissuestherein of a Width slightly less than the carton length, the width ofsaid carton being not greater than one-half its length, of a dispensingopening of corona shaped configuration, said opening defined within andextending marginally along about one-half the length of said top walland centered between the end walls, said opening having spaced parallellinear sidemargins and smoothly arcuate end margins, said opening beingformed by the removal of a marginally perforated corona shaped portionof the top wall to expose the top edge of the adjacent side wall whichforms the outer side margin, the inner side margin comprising a linearedge extending longitudinally of the top wall and spaced inwardly of theexposed side wall edge approximately one quarter of the width of the topwall, said end margins extending outwardly from said inner side marginto the exposed side wall edge in substantially semicircularconfiguration to complete said corona configuration, the removal of saidperforated top wall portion resulting in serrated edges marginally ofthe opening, whereby in-' dividual interfolded and lightly interbondedtissues may be sequentially withdrawn through said opening fromalternate sides of said carton-housed tissue stack and severed fromsuccessively trailing tissue-by the force of withdrawal operatingcounter to constrictive frictional forces imposed marginally of saidopening on successively withdrawn trailing tissues as they are partiallywithdrawn through said opening by the tissue being dispensed to providea pop-up portion readily accessible for subsequent withdrawal from thecarton.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,118,380 Gresenz May 24, 1938 2,387,059 Clark Oct. 16,1945 2,626,096Hickin Jan. 20, 1953 2,967,010 Cutfey et a1. Jan; 3, 1961

